shanmonster | Anecdotal Evidence

When my Dad was in his teens, he lied about his age and joined the military. He came from a small Newfoundland fishing village. In case you don't know, certain critters, like snakes and skunks, don't live in Newfoundland. So when my Dad came to the mainland to serve his country, he got to meet up with new fauna in unexpected ways.

One of his first duties was to defend the mess tent against pilfering animals. So there he was, doing his patrol like a good little soldier when a black cat with a white stripe moseys its way into the tent. He shoots it, and takes it outside, thinking nothing of it.

Some time passes, and another striped cat comes into the tent. This time, when he shoots it, the cat manages to shoot back.

The mess tent, and all that it contained, was contaminated by the spray.

And that's how my Dad discovered skunks.

...

A while back, I met a guy who worked at a call centre doing tech support for a satellite dish company. One guy called in because his remote controller wasn't working. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that dude had put the receiver box--the thing that typically goes in the entertainment centre--up on the roof with the satellite dish.

And then there's the time someone called in to report he couldn't get reception. So tech support guy suggested the dude move his satellite dish to see if it helped.

Several hours later, the guy called back. He'd packed up the satellite dish into the back of his pickup truck and had driven around town with it, calling home on his cell phone to ask the wife if the reception was improving.

Oddly enough, this just hadn't done the trick.